:: ORIGINAL vs REMAKE :: - Ringu (1998) Discussion

[–] alex-pfeiffer 18 years ago

I've watched the remake today on TV and was really disappointed by it. (Maybe because I saw the original version first) What makes the original better is the atmosphere created by it. (The music for example is way more scary because its so surreal and twisted. Most scenes in the original are rather dark and foggy which adds an extra effect to it. Saddakos story and the unnatural powers she posseses, for example the schoolkids she kills in the tithe, are more interesting than the stories about those silly horses and the mental clinic which were added in the remake. Further theres not so much dialogue in the original than in the remake which has to much bla bla in it. This makes the original darker. My favourite message about the reflections the victims see whenever they watch a turned off TV screen is completely lost in the remake... Japanese people grow up with visual media even more than Europeans or Americans do which scares you even more if you think about their culture.) Actually the special effects are better in the remake, but I dont watch a horror movie to see scary makeup but a scary story (The only exception is that you see the girls face way too often in the remake´, while the original always shows Saddako with her hair in the face, which makes her look quite evil and alien.) All in all the original version has a long time effect: it scares you for a few days, but the remake only scares you a little while youre watching it. I also prefer the original because its a different kind of movie, not like the remake which is one of the many typical Hollywood horror movie most of us are used to.

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[–] BernardHermann 18 years ago

Original.

Women love bass players, but only the ones who know how to use their fingers.

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[–] craigbenting 18 years ago

The remake was FAR, FAR scarier!

The only thing the original has going for it is the music and sounds. Aside from that, it's like a 10-year-old's Halloween movie.

I mean, I've got 10-14 year old's in my house. Guess which one they will watch and which one they absolutely cannot sit through??? Yeah, the original they can watch and eat popcorn while watching, but the remake they couldn't make it more than 30 minutes into it. They came back and the ending sent them out of the room again before it was even done.

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[–] stoeving 18 years ago

The original is always the best.

The only reason that Hollywood has some success, is that a huge amount of young americans lack Imagination og sense for quality. And this thought is as scary as any Horror movie!!

The original is artistic and gives you something to think about.
The remake pins out everything, which is great if you don't have a clue to what's going on around you.

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[–] Advech 18 years ago

IMO, the remake is very different, and nearly as good as this. But the CGI Samara ruins the atmosphere. In the original when she's out of the tv she is not CGI and it makes it look more real, so therefore is more scary. I don't know how to describe, but I guess the original is just more..authentic. It's more creepy and weird. I think they're both good in terms of story telling and acting and other sutff like that, but the remake fails to deliver the creepiness the original had.

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[–] BloodLustDE 18 years ago

I've watched both of them and i have to say that the remade american version is vastly superior to the original. The original one wasnt very scary at all by comparison and the only creepy part of it was the end. The remake had many creepy and scary parts in between to keep the tension much higher. The story of the remake made more sense than the original plot, and the actors in the american version showed much more emotion than the original. Don't get me wrong, i like ringu. But the ring was better. It's what a remake is supposed to be: Better in every sense, taking what you loved about the original and making it better.

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[–] Advech 18 years ago

Yeah, they dumbed it down for American audience, like they do with every remake. I think it's better in this how it isn't so straight forward.
The only extra "scary" part was a cheap jump scene. But still I did really like the remake.

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[–] blacklola 18 years ago

Same here. Though i read the novel first=). The Ringu follows the novel carefully, BUT the story doesn`t make much sense, and if you haven`t read the book, u`ll be confused. I felt like the characters discussed everything in the scenes that weren`t showed, like the main stuff was said *behind the scenes*. In the american ring things were actually clear. The actors acted better, unlike the jap. ones they showed emotions. In the Ringu, after Asakawa watched the video she wasn`t scared...at all. It`s like she didn`t care bout it at all=\. Some moments were eerie and the end was freaky though, brrr.
After reading all those reviews, how the jap is more scarier and better, i was disappointed. Well, i still haven`t seen the 2nd part=).

I hate to say it, but americans did a better job...:D Even though the director was the same.

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[–] lizzyleh 18 years ago

the original was more realistic than the remake. the more realistic the movie, the creepier and scarier it will become.

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[–] PollyGene 17 years ago

"I hate to say it, but americans did a better job...:D Even though the director was the same."

The director wasn't the same. The Ring was directed by Gore Verbinski (of 'Pirates' fame). It was The Ring Two that had the same director as this one.

And though I almost always enjoy the foreign originals to their American counter-parts, I think that in this case the remake is far superior. It's not that I thought 'The Ring' was brilliant (from from it), it's just that 'Ringu' is pretty darn horrible. The acting, directing, and story were incredibly cheesy. I thought it was utter crap.

Honestly, I don't even understand where this myth about superior Japanese horror films came from. Practically every single one I've seen has had a really cheesy/shallow story with a bunch of bad acting. The only exception would be the japanese horror classic 'Kwaidan', which is everything that these films are purported to be.

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[–] guster-1 17 years ago

I think you should lidten to yourself. It made 10-14 year olds scared because they aren't at an age where suggestive horror would scare them. I was seriously scared of Nightmare on Elm Street when I was that age but I'm not now. I'm more scared of Ringu than the remake because you can tell it's all special effects in the ring,where as the fact that all you saw was the victims faces in Ringu it all made it seem more real.
By the way, wasn't anybody *beep* scared of turning on the tv or answering the phone after watching these films? My mates thought it would be funny to ring me up and play that eerie music from the ringu video down the phone like it does in the film. Gits.

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[–] resc0030 18 years ago

I just saw the original tonight with my girlfriend. It was a major snorer. We both just about fell asleep. I was hoping to be scared, but even an hour into it, it seemed like it was still exposition. The pace was unbelievably slow, and it was never scary.

I think the easiest way for me to sum up the movie is that it's basically the same as the story told by the two girls at the beginning of the movie - "This girl watched a video, got a phone call that said she would die in a week, and then died in a week." Take that, stretch it out to feature length, and you have Ringu. Not really scary at all, or creepy, or anything. My girlfriend wanted to see it through to the end, but I would have been just as happy to have stopped it at around the 45 minute mark.

I don't know, I think if you want to see an art film, see a drama or something along those lines. Some people may consider Ringu "art," but last time I checked, the point of a scary movie was to scare you. Ringu isn't scary, so maybe its purpose is instead to provoke thought and discussion amongst film buffs. Sorry, but that seems to totally miss the point to me. Worthless film.

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[–] LoneWolfAndCub 18 years ago

Ringu is vastly superior to the American remake. It doesn't need cheap jump scares, CGI or loud noises to scare. And it doesn't spell everything out either. Ringu is slower but ultimately scarier. Sadako is creepier and the video is WAY more freaky and weird. The Asian horror originals will always be better than the American remakes.

"I kick arse for the lord!" Priest from Braindead

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[–] Icedontgo 17 years ago

The remake is pretty good but the original is way creepier and more atmospheric. The remake throws in stuff just to shock you (closet face) and while it's horrid, it's too much, too early. The only thing that really annoyed me about the remake was that it messes up the two greatest scenes.

1. How she gets into the well - about a million times more intense in the original movie.
2. The TV scene. CGI? No thanks.

Otherwise, good remake, Japanese version beats it easily, though.

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[–] Atomic_matt 17 years ago

I gotta say, I am all about the original. It's the otherworldly nature of Sadako that you just don't get with the remake's Samara. Sadako retains her mystery because you don't really see much of her face. Samara seems less mysterious because she is blatantly looks like a young girl caught up in the middle of something she doesn't understand. Don't get me wrong, the remake is quality but it's not a peg on Ringu.

*****Sequel spoilers ahead*****

Japanese sequels were a rather shoddy affair though. Ringu 2 and Ringu 0: Birthday sadly lacked the same malevolence. Although the Sadako chase scene at the end of Birthday, where she sidesteps into the rundown house still scares the crapola outta me.

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[–] sarahaywood90 17 years ago

i watched the remake recently and i hated it! it didn't even scare me and it took away all the things in the original movie that made it scary in the first place! Naomi Watts was really annoying and your typical blonde bimbo! she wasn't a patch on the actress who played Reiko Asakawa.

This is why most American remakes are dodgy. They tone down the horror which is stupid because it's HORROR FILM!

When it comes to horror, the japanese are light years ahead. Just go and watch Ju-On: The Grudge and you'll see what I'm talking about

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[–] Atomic_matt 17 years ago

Haywood, I almost totally back you up. The thing is is: Hollywood assumes that moviegoers are simpletons and have to tie up an entire story in roughly 2 hours. There's little option for character developement to the Japanese scale because they require 20 explosions every 15 seconds. But if you take America horror for what it is, a popcorn heavy slice of different cultures originals, then you can, at least, judge it within the morals of mass market cinema. Good storytelling is good storytelling. Although J-Horror is a damn good place to start.

"I never said thank you"

"And you'll never have to"

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[–] Home-Brewed 17 years ago

This is the easiest post ever... American's just can't make a movie scary, so RINGU wins by far.

--
Been making movies since 1997.

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[–] Schwarze_Engel 17 years ago

Wow, that was a stupid thing to say. Como se dice The Exorcist? And I don't think the Japanese are any better. Using strange girls with long hair as the antagonist gets old after the thirty-seventh time.

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[–] evilrotting 17 years ago

I think (am I the only one?) that the remake was tons better....

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[–] scouser84 17 years ago

I would go with the original as the best version. OK, so it isn't "scary" until near the very end. But the slow build up ensures that it stays with you for days. The remake might make people jump, but once you've jumped it's over and the scare is not with you anymore.

If you are the kind of person who prefers everything explained within a film, then set yourself up for a night of J-horror and watch the original followed by it's sequels, Ring 2 and Ring 0. That will tie most things up.

If you want a bit of mystery and some time to think about it and discuss it, just watch the original on its own.

If you have seen the remake, you may not find the original scary at all as you will already be aware of the biggest set piece. However, it is still worth watching as a good and compelling supernatural mystery story.

If you want to complete the experience, I would also recommend the trilogy of original novels by Koji Suzuki. So far I have read Ring and Spiral, and will be buying Loop in the near future. In the UK, they are published by Harper Collins. Spiral is completely different to Ring 2, although there is a film version of Spiral under the title Rasen and it's directed by Jôji Iida.

Hope this has been helpful!

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[–] Atomic_matt 17 years ago

I'm defo an original kinda guy. I mean, my introduction to Ringu was watching it a few years ago on late night channel 4 having heard nothing about it at all. I was truly not prepared for the experience. The malevolence was almost palpable. Like you say Scouser, the books are worth a bash too. Ring was great but nothing new to filmers, Spiral was less good but still worth a go for curio value, and I'm also yet to do Loop. I was nicely suprised by the Dark Water novel though. That is a great collection of short stories, very gripping. Especially the tale called 'The Hold'. If you get the opportunity, you should defo give it a read.

"I never said thank you"

"And you'll never have to"

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[–] scouser84 17 years ago

I've actually bought the "Dark Water" short stories collection. Will read the whole thing once all my university work for this term is handed in! I have read "Floating Water", the story "Dark Water" the film was based on and found it a lot scarier than the film (the Japanese version, I haven't seen the remake). Not sure why, just sent shivers down my spine! Think it's because I'm quite anal about cleanliness myself... although not so much as the character in the book! Suzuki is a great writer... the stories are so atmospheric, he presents the scene really vividly - something which the original film versions of Ring and Dark Water also did. Atmosphere is everything in those stories/films.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rukusswo97 17 years ago

The only thing the original has going for it is the music and sounds. Aside from that, it's like a 10-year-olds Halloween movie.

I mean, I've got 10-14 year olds in my house. Guess which one they will watch and which one they absolutely cannot sit through??? Yeah, the original they can watch and eat popcorn while watching, but the remake they couldn't make it more than 30 minutes into it. They came back and the ending sent them out of the room again before it was even done.

Thats exactly how "Hollywood" treats viewers of horror films, like they're 10 years old. "Boo" movies are not scary/horrifying/disturbing. They just make you jump for a second and then its over, forever. The main thing the American versions of Ring and Ju-on had goin was a story. The originals never fully explained things, you have to have a brain to figure them out. When you have to be told that Samara is the spawn of Satan it becomes less scary and more cliche. One movie a year, at least, comes out with that plot. With Sadako, you don't know exactly what she is.

Now as for the "snore fest", "Slow", "not scary" stuff.
Thats fine, think what you will. There are more things than $150 million dollar "Hollywood style" budgets that go into Asian Horror films. Things are portrayed differently, like fear. Things that "you" (american/north american) see as scary are COMPLETELY different than what Asia sees as scary. Godzilla was somewhat of a horror film because in Japan, the fear was mass destruction, millions of people dying. Now why would they fear that? In America it was 1 killer: Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy because one man threatened us, like Hitler. Scream could portray terrorist leaders working together. But the scariest part of Asian horror always comes at the end with the body of the film working as build up not as a scare fest.

Theres a little more than "Boo" going on in Horror films, specially Foreign horror films.

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[–] Mechani-Kong 15 years ago

In America it was 1 killer: Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy because one man threatened us, like Hitler.

Lol That's why they were scary? Worst post in this thread.

"Christ Almighty, it's the Goddamned Watchmen!"

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] reiss-ferlance 17 years ago

The remake of The Ring is great but the Japanese original is so much better, and it's one chilling movie.

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[–] davidgoesboating 17 years ago

I am a big fan of foreign cinema, and generally see Hollywood remakes as pointless. For example, I cannot fathom why Haneke (one of my favourite directors) is making an American remake of Funny Games. Also, the less said about Soderbergh's Solaris (the original is my favourite film of all time), the better.

This comes as a bit of a surprise to myself, but I actually think the remake of The Ring was far better than the original. Maybe the fact that I saw the remake first, and already knew pretty much what was going to happen, had something to do with this. I don't know. Whatever the case, it was simply far superior. It was far scarier, the cinematography was better, even the acting and dialogue was better (it might have been the subtitler's fault, but I found some of the dialogue in the Japanese film to be a little silly).

The Japanese version did have certain advantages. I thought the ending was a lot stronger, and the last scene is fantastic. I also liked that they left it a bit more ambiguous at the end in the original version.

Let's face it, though. When one decides to 'remake' a film, he has a far easier task than the original director. He can basically pick and choose scenes, make the story flow better, in other words, he has a great opportunity to improve on it. Whether this should be done or not (as it does sort of show disrespect to the original) is questionable, but I believe in this case it worked.

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[–] christian_theringtwo 17 years ago

lol people just don't get used to the idea that this is the remake age, so get over it, just get used to that idea

then, about THIS remake, I believe the original was sooooooooooooooo boring

I know you don't need the music to scare someone, but the psycological factor (Blair Witch Project)

and the original The Ring didn't have that thing, instead the remake did

besides the investigation in the remake went so deep and the performance is so much better by Naomi, the japanese girl playing Reiko I believe was her name, wasn't a frightening performance, she just cried very big and unstoppable tears

I mean watch Dark Water, the original, and you'll see a pretty good performance by a female lead, now that was a woman on her own

just like in the remake, Connelly managed to play a perfect divorced and depressed woman

Naomi played her part so well, the final scene, crying out on her ex's death and the tape, it was just great but not too exagerated

The remake has something going and it's the basic original idea, but that's a remake man! they base on the original and try to make it better and add as many new things as posible

and make it good, and I know what they say about awards, but come on!

The remake won 7 awards, and had 4 more nominations

I know Mtv ones are cheap ones =P but the rest look just fine

and look, the original had 6 wins and one more nomination

I mean the remake even had an amazing trailer, which wasn't a give-away to the movie

and won a Golden Trailer Award for it lol

most of you people have a problema admiting this remake was a good one

JUST ADMIT IT, the performances were good, very good and the story was so more complex and the effects did just good

complain about The Grudge for pitty's sake, this movie doesn't deserve such critiques, I mean the rating is almost the same as the original, COME ON!

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[–] davidgoesboating 17 years ago

"lol people just don't get used to the idea that this is the remake age, so get over it, just get used to that idea"

lol omg!!1111!! for one thing I'm not sure who coined the term 'the remake age', first time I've heard of it... and no, I'm not going to blindly accept Hollywood's extravagances. Why should I?

"The remake won 7 awards, and had 4 more nominations... the original had 6 wins and one more nomination "
Is that in America, or internationally? I would not be surprised if the remake was more popular in America. For example, the French film Hidden was far better than all of the 2005 Academy Award nominations, but wasn't even nominated because it was a foreign language film.

And yeah, The Grudge was sh*thouse.

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